Speech
for
His Excellency Fidel V. Ramos
President of the Philippines
At the State Dinner in his Honor hosted by President Wee Kim Wee of Singapore

[Delivered on February 11, 1993]

The Philippines
and Singapore

I MAKE this visit to Singapore, first of all, in pursuance of the honored tradition in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, according to which a new ASEAN head of government calls on his neighbors. In keeping with this practice and tradition, I have placed my visits to ASEAN top priority in the order of my Administration’s foreign and economic relations.

This visit to Singapore affirms ASEAN solidarity, the close relations between the Philippines and Singapore, and the enduring friendship between the Filipino and Singaporean peoples. Singapore’s role as our leading trading partner among the ASEAN countries and your prompt and generous assistance to the victims of natural disasters in the Philippines are proofs of this.

Where our relationship stands

Our visit at this time is more than symbolic in its significance, important though symbols are in the relations between nations. This call on a close neighbor, Mr. President, provides us an opportunity to review where we are today, where our relationship stands, and our place in the world. It gives us a chance to chart the course of our relationship now and for the future, to see how we can work together and with the rest of ASEAN to improve our peoples’ lives and to make our region and our planet a better place to live in.

I consider myself fortunate in assuming the leadership of my country now, for a new era has dawned on the world and on our region.

East Asia, reflecting the basic change that the global situation has undergone, is today a region where nations and peoples pursue their security, prosperity and freedom through the ways of peace and cooperation.

In our region, nations no longer seek to enhance their security primarily through alliances with the mighty and the buildup of armanents—as they did only a few years ago. They now turn to consultation and interaction, to regional and bilateral cooperation.

An era of hope

Territorial disputes, for the most part, are no longer allowed to stand in the way of mutually beneficial relations. Ancient animosities are now being relegated to where they belong—the background.

Even seemingly intractable contradictions, such as the conflicting claims to the South China Sea, are the subject of dialogue and a determined search for new ways of cooperation. The series of workshops hosted by Indonesia on this subject and the forthcoming working-group meeting in the Philippines on marine science research in the South China Sea are part of this fresh approach.

Nations today appear to look forward to an enduring respite from conflict, suspicion and insecurity. This climate is creating a single-minded pursuit of economic growth and stability, which now takes the place of the sterile imperatives of ideology. This brings upon us an era of unprecedented opportunity, when political circumstances have provided the framework and the environment for nations to strengthen their economies, improve their people’s lives, and expand their people’s freedoms, undistracted by other anxieties. It is an era of hope.

This also happens to be an era when nations’ pursuit of growth and prosperity demands an unprecedented degree of international and regional cooperation. Nations can no longer pursue their own prosperity all by themselves, much less at the expense of their neighbors.

The complicated processes of modern agricultural and industrial production cannot be confined within a single set of national boundaries. They are so complex and require resources of such variety and volume that no one country can contain and provide all the factors necessary to undertake them. The stages of production transcend political boundaries and seek locations where the factors of production can be most efficiently used, if the resulting output is to be competitive in today’s increasingly interconnected markets.

Capital, technology, labor and raw materials thus must be sought where they exist and flow toward where they are needed. Autarky or even the self-reliance of the past is no longer viable in today’s world.

Economic complementarities

This is the logic behind the ASEAN Free Trade Area, which our governments, in this very city one year ago, decided to establish. This, too, ought to be the logic underlying Philippine-Singapore relations, if they are to have continued meaning and substance for our peoples.

For if these economic complementarities are evident anywhere, it is in Philippine-Singapore relations. The Philippines’ advantage in abundant managerial, technical and other manpower availability, in land and agricultural resources, and in other natural attributes can complement Singapore’s edge in science and technology, in management and finance, in services, and in high-technology industries—all for the benefit of both our countries. Each of us can make up for the other’s shortages and benefit from the other’s abundance.

Such a fruitful partnership need not be limited to the more obvious areas of industrial production. It can and should also profitably apply to such endeavors as medical research, science education, tourism, and defense supply and training.

The advantages of geographic proximity reinforced by our ASEAN umbrella bring the potential of Philippine-Singapore relations to a new era of partnership anchored on synergistic interests and long-standing friendship.

For our part, the Philippines has reached a crucial stage in its pursuit of economic recovery and administrative reform that I can confidently say that we can now be a strong, reliable and profitable partner with which to trade and in which to invest.

We can justly claim success in creating the political and economic climate that favors economic growth and profitable collaboration with our foreign partners.

National reconciliation

We have enhanced our political stability by way of an orderly and peaceful transfer of government power in last year’s elections. Through an unprecedented program of national reconciliation, including an amnesty proclamation for those who took up arms against the State, we have neutralized the internal threats to our national security. We are dealing with the problem of crime and corruption with firmness and determination. The Presidency and the Congress are now collaborating much more closely toward policy reform and sustainable development. We have maintained industrial peace.

Starting early this year, we embarked on a massive infrastructure program in the public and private sectors through build-operate-transfer and similar schemes. Our fast-track energy projects will provide an adequate supply of electric power to meet demand by the middle of this year.

We have fully liberalized the rules on foreign exchange and significantly relaxed our investment policies, particularly those on foreign investments. We are breaking down monopolies and crony capitalism. Legislative initiatives are leading to the opening up of our banking system to foreign competition. We have drastically reduced our tariffs on imported goods. We have privatized nearly 350 public companies since 1988, including Government’s shares in large State-controlled corporations. Privatization as Government policy is being intensified.

Promoting partnership

Our efforts have already brought encouraging results. Our fiscal deficit has been narrowed considerably, resulting in the dramatic fall of our inflation rate from 20 percent in June 1991 to 8.2 percent at the end of 1992, which is expected to decline further to 7.5 percent this year.

Export earnings and increased inflow of loans and investments have resulted in a balance-of-payments surplus that is reflected in a current level of international reserves two and a half times the 1990 level. Our foreign-debt situation has improved substantially in terms of percentage of GNP, proportion of exports and debt-service ratios.

Our economic growth rate, while still well below those of our partners in ASEAN, is on the uptrend.

Mr. President, we have come to your country to promote the value of partnership between the Philippines and Singapore and within ASEAN. We seek to build with you stronger foundations for cooperation and new bridges of opportunity upon which a stronger partnership can rest.